COLUMBUS, OHIO - The Ohio Wildlife Council listened to a pair of legislators outline their opposition to radical changes in this year's deer hunting regulations at its meeting in Columbus on Wednesday night, then approved every proposal made by the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

Not a single "nay" vote was heard all evening.

Horace W. Karr, a Pomeroy farmer who has been on the eight-member OWC for more than a quarter century, chastised Sens. Chris Widener (R-Springfield) and Frank LaRose (R-Copley Township) for questioning the proposals of the ODOW experts.

"If you think you can do a better job (of managing Ohio's deer herd), then you shoulder be here (on the OWC)," Karr told the legislators after their presentation. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Karr said the list of objections presented by the legislators were a waste of paper.

"In 1957, I started hunting deer in Meigs County. You could hunt for days and be tickled just to see a deer," said Karr, praising ODOW deer management programs that have pushed Ohio's deer harvest well over the 200,000 mark in recent years.

Widener's opposition paper, signed by 42 legislators, asked the OWC to reconsider ODOW proposals that eliminated a two-day late December gun season after the regular week long campaign; establish a statewide antlerless deer-only black powder rifle hunt on Oct 12-13; lower deer bag limits in 12 southern Ohio counties; and eliminate the urban deer zones where extra antlerless deer can be killed.

Stephen M Seliskar of Kirtland, one of the newer council members, did call on the ODOW to work with legislators, and complimented them on the creation of a Sportsmen's Caucus in the Ohio Legislature.

County bag limits of two, three or four deer replaced the tradition deer zones. Deer hunting hours were extended to 30 minutes past sunset for deer firearms seasons, the same as for the archery season.

The start of the fall wild turkey hunting season was moved to Oct. 14-Dec. 1. Turkeys can now be hunted during the fall season in 56 of Ohio's 88 counties with the addition of Butler, Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Hamilton, Huron, Seneca and Warren counties.

The Lake Erie bag limits are now official. The daily bag limit for walleye is six fish, and 30 for yellow perch. Ohio commercial anglers were given a quota of 1.7 million pounds of perch. Trap nets will not be allowed around the Western Basin of Lake Erie because of slumping numbers of yellow perch.

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